Confession

Confession: I am a wanna-be blogger, but the truth is I would rather be out and about. When I get back, I completely forget about blogging or am too tired to write.

It's been awhile, so I'll give a short recap of the past 3? weeks...

I returned to Buenos Aires and started the process for my student visa. For the first step, I went to get fingerprinted and get a special paper, which I was told to pick it up in a week. However, I wasn't going to be in Buenos Aires at that point and if I didn't pick it up within 14 days (including weekends and holidays, even though the office isn't open) they dispose of it altogether.... That would have been nice to know before paying to start the process. I love how they don't ever tell you these details unless you happen to ask.

I broke one of my rules...avoid all American establishments aka McDonald's, Burger King, Subway, Starbucks and TGI Fridays. Although it was worth it, as I went to meet up with Jessica and Katie (2 of the Cru STINT girls) at Starbucks. It was a good opportunity to connect with other believers and figure out what options I have for churches, etc. The best part? I get to be involved with Cru in Argentina (which they call VIDA)! Perfect study abroad -- classes about Argentina and Latin America, basically STINTing for 5 months and working an international internship. :-) Love it!!

Ceci returned and brought me my glasses and ATM card, if you remember my misfortune of the past month. Despite having a giant head, my glasses are too big! Shocker, I know. Not a huge deal since I got the broken glasses semi-fixed and can use them or contacts or my old glasses. Then there's the ATM card... Sunday we went to the bank and I tried to use my card, but the machine wouldn't even take it. The bank said to talk to my home back, which said they needed a error code to figure out the problem. There's no error code if the machine won't even take the card. Just my luck. I still haven't figured it out since the card worked in the U.S. and is identical to the one with the bad magnetic strip.

As if the day couldn't get any worse (we walked around all day trying to find an ATM to take my card), we went back to Maty's and half a block away a guy had been pushed/jumped from the 3rd floor balcony. It felt like I was in a movie...neighbors gawking in the street, police tape, a body on the curb. Not something I wanted to experience during my study abroad. Thankfully we left the next day for a  much needed vacation to Mar del Plata! The first 2 days were perfect weather for going to the beach and frolicking in the ocean. The next 2 days rained, but we went to the aquarium, shopping and saw Black Swan.

Now I'm going to Corrientes to watch carnival, visit people, go shopping and walk around downtown, just like before. The weather is still gorgeous and classes don't start until March 14th, although I have orientation the 9th. I probably won't write until I get back to Buenos Aires on the 8th, but you never know...I seem to be doing a good amount of academic paperwork during my vacation. :-P

The Norm

Last time I studied abroad, my flashlight was my new best friend. The electricity went out nearly every day and at night they would walk around with candlesticks, which isn´t exactly ideal. The electricity hasn´t gone out that often (so far), but it frequently gets really weak -- the fans stop turning, the tv shuts off and the internet is nonexistant. As a result of these electricity bajones (lows) as they call them, lots of the wires burn and then the residents are continually calling technicians to come fix the wiring.

Another kicker is the water. You never know when you´ll have access to water, or so it seems. One minute it is running fine and the next you can barely get two drops to come out. This proves to be problematic if you were planning on showering, cooking or washing your car. Unfortunately, you also never know when it will come back and when it does come back, it often is a rusty color. (Due to the fact that the dirt here is a rusty brown color.) Lack of water has been more frequent than lack of electricity thus far. It´s funny though, this fall when Ames flooded people were freaking out and running to Wal-mart to stock up on bottled water. The majority of people were tweaking about not being able to shower. Nobody here is running to buy water and nobody complains about not being able to shower. (Sidenote: it is much hotter here than it was in Ames in August.) 

Despite these outages, we have had plenty of water in the house....one day I woke up from the siesta to a wet rug and floor. (My bed is in front of the window air conditioner.) Somehow it was leaking droplets of water, which accumulated over the hour or so that I took my nap and resulted in a huge puddle under my bed. Not cool. I keep all of my things (electronics, money, clothes, etc.) at the foot of my bed on the floor. Thankfully the water had just reached that point and had only gotten part of my bag wet, but I am still apprehensive about leaving my things there when I go to sleep.

Yesterday, water was dripping from what I thought was the swimming suit in the bathroom. Wrong...over the course of the night, water dripped and dripped and dripped all over the bathroom and hallway and left rusty brown dirt specs everywhere. It stopped and got cleaned up this morning, but by the siesta water was consistently falling from the bathroom ceiling again. I´m not sure what happened exactly, but the tank overflowed and the water heater broke? Something of that nature and we won´t have hot water until they install the new termotanque (water heater). At this point, I´d just assume shower with cold water as opposed to not shower at all, so no complaints here. :-) 

Another interesting topic is the gas...it is produced here in Corrientes, but goes to Buenos Aires and all other parts of the country before coming back to Corrientes. Not only does this make it extremely expensive for them, it also doesn´t make logical sense. A lot of things don´t make logical sense because the same thing happens with other services, like the electricity, and nobody does anything about it. People complain around the table, but nobody in Corrientes goes out and protests for the goverment officials to do something about it. In other parts of the country like Missiones, the people complained and now they rarely lose electricity. It´s frustrating that people are so used to the lack of these services that it doesn´t occur to them that this the norm in most parts of the world.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

The Good

My mother is amazing!! Despite being extremely busy with work, Kristin and Trenton's extra-curricular activities, and other odds and ends...she always saves the day, even when I am halfway around the world. (More on this later...)

The Bad

Where to start....it seems like a multitude of things have gone wrong - from when I sent in my application and they lost it to things like getting sick or breaking my glasses. Saturday night we went to the Chamamé festival in Mburucuyá and all was fine until Maxi wanted to see my glasses. Gaby also wanted to see them, so he handed them to her and then they broke.  I just got these glasses in August, so it was quite random that they broke, and I wasn´t really sure what to say. Thankfully I could push it back into the frame and still see because we didn´t leave the festival until 5:30 AM and this was around 3.

Gaby´s mom was going to Corrientes on Monday, so she offered to take my glasses to the eye places and see if they could fix them. Unfortunately, they all said that nothing could be done because the frame was bad. If they glued it, it would only be a matter of time until they fell apart again. Despite my light packing habits here (shocker, I know) I happened to throw in a pair of contacts for my trip to Santa Rosa or I would be as blind as a bat at this point, since the glasses are still in Corrientes.

The Ugly

When I was in Corrientes, on my way to Santa Rosa from Buenos Aires, I went to the ATM to get money. No big deal - other than the fact that every ATM has a huge line 10+ people long, the machines sometimes run out of money and have really low limits. (It's not the limit you have on your card.)

By 11 AM it was already a hot day and there was no breeze. The ATM is housed in what looks like a phone booth and people were taking foreverrrrr once it was their turn. It was finally my turn and I went in and tried to get some money. However, it kept telling me that my magnetic strip was damaged. I had used the card three times prior - once in the States and twice in Buenos Aires. Not too worried, I went to another bank and ATM - same problem. This scenario happened another 6 times before we went inside the bank, took a number and sat down to wait. Everything involving the bank and money involves lots of waiting around in Argentina. When it was finally my turn, they said they couldn't help me and that I should call my bank. Super! I have an ATM card that is identical to the one I used the entire time I was in Corrientes in 2006-07, and never had any problems.

Thankfully, I have an amazing mother and best friend! Ceci texted and called my mother for me since I can´t and my mother called the bank and got me a new card, which I will get in a few weeks when Ceci comes. They also figured out what Western Union service to use and my mother sent me money so I wasn't walking around without money. To clarify, I was never homeless or without food and if I needed money, Nora and Dolfi would lend me money. However, it's much easier to have my own money since it would take forever to pay them back by going to the ATM with their ridiculous limits and expensive fees! To take out $150, it's $6+ in fees.

My wonderful mother also went to the eye doctor and showed them what happened to my glasses, in order for them to make me a new pair. So in a few weeks when Ceci and all of my things arrive, I will be much more relaxed -- with access to money and good eyesight! Just in time for vacation. :-)

Empedrado and Education

One of the things I really love about Argentina is it´s natural beauty. Sunday and Wednesday I had the opportunity to go to Empedrado - a small city about an hour and a half from Santa Rosa. Sunday I went with Gaby and her parents and Wednesday I went with Nora, Lucia, and a bunch of aunts, a few cousins and family friends. It is a relaxing city that has a wonderful beach - nice and clean. Sunday we went to the city beach and Wednesday the private beach. I was impressed by the lifeguards at the city beach because they actually kicked some guy out that was creeping on people and trying to sell some bracelets he made, or something of that nature. It´s disappointing that Iowa has no beaches...

As busy as I am in the States, it´s a good change of pace here. I get up around 10 and pretty much have nothing to do all day. I don´t even have to make my bed. :) I typically go to the deposito (office for Santa Rosa Refrescos) and try to learn how they do business here. They are a Coca Cola distributor and a lot of people who come in to visit them, or ask for dental advice (Nora is a dentist at the hospital and has her own office at the house.) I have already learned a variety of things - from how to become rich selling honey to how the education system functions here to P.A.M.I. (aka Plan de Asistencia Medico Integral) and public vs. private healthcare. 

What I haven´t figured out is why people don´t let their kids go to school, or why teens choose not to get a college degree. The elementary schools give the students everything they need for free - breakfast, lunch, a snack and teachers who care about them and their education. When kids come and don´t have shoes or appropriate clothing, the teachers bring used clothes in from their families. If the students miss class frequently, the teachers have to go visit them at their home. If it becomes a problem, they let the police know because it is illegal to not go to school until you are finished with high school. In talking with a teacher, she told me that it doesn´t really matter though because at the end of the day, the parents never get in trouble. Often they make their kids stay home and watch their younger siblings or go with their mom to the bank to wait in line. (More on that later...let´s just say that if you need to go to the bank, plan on being there for an hour +) 

But back to the education part...even college here is free, if you go to a public institute. Often times, the public institutes are better rated than the private institutes. I understand having to work, but if you have a family that doesn´t need you to work right away, why wouldn´t you go study something you liked?? It´s free! When students stop going and then decide to go back 2 years later, they don´t even have to re-apply. They can just start up where they left off. However, what I don´t like about the education system here is that if you don´t pass a class, you may miss an entire year because of it. Let me explain...

• You graduate from high school and pick your future career. (Beware, as you can´t decide to change half way through the semester. When/if you do change, you have to start over from scratch.)
• The career you choose has a pre-determined schedule of classes for you to take. For example, you want to be a public accountant? In the first semester, you will have fundamentals of economy, math, accounting 1, business administration and philosophy 1 with everyone else who wants to be a public accountant.
• If you don´t pass one of those classes, you have to try to take the final exam again later, in 6 months. If you still can´t pass it, then you just lost a year because you can´t move on to the next set of classes. 

No wonder why many students get frustrated and give up half-way through their college career. One could waste years and years trying to achieve something that seems impossible. Add on to that the embarrassment of being left behind when the majority of your classmates are moving on to the other classes. Although, it could all be easily avoided if they properly prepared for their exams in the first place.

My Off-Road Adventure

Maty, Yani, Nacho and Rosi had been on vacation to Cordoba, Argentina and returned in time for Maty´s birthday last weekend. We spent a few days in Buenos Aires -- shopping, going to the park, etc -- then returned to Corrientes, and eventually Santa Rosa. The trip was over 12 hours and one of the national roads we were traveling on was...well, exciting. There were all of 2 cars that we saw the whole time we were on it and were in the middle of nowhere. The road had more pot holes than flat surfaces, much worse than Robins Road. The pot holes are more aptly described as craters, no joke. We would be going along nice and calm before suddenly swerving, then swerving again. I felt like we were in a video game..those racing games, and Nacho was the driver trying to avoid all the craters. The best part was that there was a sign saying ¨Careful, workers 50 m ahead¨....yeah, there was nobody in sight.

Besides the terrible quality of the road, we did see a lot of interesting animals. A huge iguana crossed the road, which I didn´t get a picture of because Nacho accidently chased it off the road in his attempt to get it to stay on the road. We also saw various birds -- pacaá and one that looked like an ostrich. Then there were the cowboys herding their cows on horseback. We also made a pit stop in Goya, which is the second largest city in the province of Corrientes, with a whopping population of 70,240. There was absolutely nothing going on there, but we visited Yani´s cousin and got ice cream, so I was happy. :)

Pacaá

I also realized something - traveling here gives you time to think. It´s all green fields and trees, and when the sun is setting, it is absolutely gorgeous. I enjoy that about Argentine culture, people relax. Even though sometimes it´s really frustrating that you can never plan anything in advance. If you want to catch a ride with someone and ask them 2 days in advance, they won´t know. In a little bit may very well mean tomorrow, but life´s pace is much more enjoyable. Nobody is running to check their email every day, much less every hour. People aren´t checking Facebook on their phone in the middle of a conversation, much less carrying an andriod phone. (Yes - they exist here, but they are so unnecessary...which could also be argued for the US) I  like that I´m not dependent on my phone...constantly connected to email...running around like a crazy person doing 3,095 things at once. Don´t get me wrong, I enjoy staying super busy, but sometimes it´s nice to take a step back and just enjoy the scenery. People here come home for lunch, take a nap in the afternoon, go lay by the pool for a little bit, shower and go back to work. (At least in smaller cities, not Buenos Aires.) I love being able to get together with friends and play cards all afternoon, drinking terere - mate with juice instead of hot water. At night I can go out to the  road and walk to a friend´s house...no need for a car. It´s a lovely life, but it certainly has it´s pros and cons.

So You Think You Can Drive

One of my goals for my semester is to learn how to drive a manual car. (Don´t worry Mom, only in Santa Rosa) Automatic cars here are very expensive and often for handicapped people...like if you don´t have two arms or legs or whatever. However, there are some very distinctive differences between transportation here and in the U.S. 

1. The stoplight turns yellow before turning red, but also turns yellow before turning green.
2. Stop signs are merely a poor use of space. Stopping is overrated - simply slow down in the middle of the intersection and see if anyone else is coming. Often there will be multiple cars in middle of the intersertion, nearly hitting each other.
3. Turning signals? Also overrated. In fact, if you want to weave in and out of traffic that´s fine. Or even better, feel free to make your own lane in the middle of two. 
4. Bicyclist in your lane? Don´t bother looking over your shoulder, just go around them in the other lane...if there is a car there, they will automatically know you are going to go around the bicyclist and will be prepared to go into the lane next to them.
5. If you want to take the Subte, don´t be surprised to find the opportunity to purchase socks, hair ties or gum while en-route. People come by selling a variety of products and simply place the item on your lap until they come back and see if you want to purchase it. Last week there was also a band that traveled from car to car on the Subte I was on...keeps you on your toes.
6. Have an issue with personal space? Don´t take the Subte during peak hours. I made this mistake last week and let me tell you...it was unlike anything I have ever experienced. Normally there are people standing and sitting and that´s pretty standard for anywhere. However, around 6 pm you can´t move - literally. People shove you on and you become one with the 30 people around you. No need for hand rails because you couldn´t move if you wanted to...good luck getting off.

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